In England, a group of scientists from Oxford and Exeter universities made a survey on 740 women, who had become pregnant for the first time, learning their eating habits in the year before they conceived. The results are really impressive and evident. The style of diet, namely high-calorie or restricted directly affects the gender of baby. They found that 56% of women in the high calorie group gave birth to boys, compared with 45% in the lower calorie group. None of the women was obese or aware of the gender of her baby throughout her pregnancy.

Fiona Mathews, the specialist in mammalian biology at Exeter University who manages the research said : "We were able to confirm the old legend that eating bananas and so having a high potassium intake was associated with having a boy, as was a high sodium intake. But the old tale about drinking a lot of milk to have a girl doesn't seem to be true. In fact, more calcium meant they were again more likely to have a boy.

Professor Stuart West, of Edinburgh University, said women should be extremely cautious about using diet to influence the sex of their offspring because it can result in several health implications.